Extension cord reel assembly with ground fault interrupt outlets

• US 5,657,841 A
• Filed: 03/04/1996
• Issued: 08/19/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 03/04/1996
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Jacques Morvan
• Original Assignee: Jacques Morvan
• Inventors: Morvan, Jacques
• Primary Examiner(s): Bucci, David A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): LOWE, SCOTT
• Application Number:
  US08/608,008
• Time in Patent Office: 533 Days
• Field of Search: 439/4, 439/107, 439/488, 439/490, 439/501, 439/650, 191/12.2 R, 191/12.4
• US Class Current: 191/12.4
• CPC Class Codes: H02G 11/02 using take-up reel or drum

Abstract

An extension cord reel assembly with ground fault interrupt outlets comprising: a main housing unit including a front wall and a rear wall and an upper region including at least one carry handle affixed thereto, the front wall including a large circular aperture and the rear wall including a small circular aperture; a hub including planar first and second end members and a cylindrical central section, the hub being positioned within the outer housing, the first end member including a recess and a rewind handle, an electrical cord and plug extending from the interior of the hub and through the outer housing; at least one outlet box being positioned within a recess of the first end member and operatively coupled to the electrical cord, each outlet box including duplex female ground electrical sockets, a ground fault interrupt device, and a power indicator light, a front cover plate being coupled to the first end member of the hub, a rear cover plate being coupled to the second end member, the hub being rotatable within the outer housing by rotating the rewind handle thereby rolling up the cord.

Claims

1. A new and improved extension cord reel assembly with ground fault interrupt outlets comprising, in combination:

a main housing unit formed in a generally semi-circular configuration with a front wall, a rear wall, opposing sidewalls, a floor and an essentially hollow interior, the main housing unit

a main housing unit formed in a generally semi-circular configuration with a front wall, a rear wall, opposing sidewalls, a floor and an essentially hollow interior, the main housing unit being fabricated of plastic and having a rounded upper region and a rectangular lower region, the housing unit having a thickness of about three and one-half inches, a carry handle being affixed to the rounded upper region adjacent to each sidewall, a first sidewall including a cord hole extending therethrough adjacent to the floor, the front wall including a circular aperture with a diameter measuring about ninety percent of the width of the front wall, the rear wall including a central aperture with a diameter measuring about fifty percent of the width of the rear wall;

a hub including planar circular first and second end members, a large cylindrical central section coupling the end members together, in an operative orientation the hub being positioned within the outer housing, the first end member including a cylindrical rewind handle extending therefrom, the central section having an essentially hollow interior, the central section including a cord hole extending therethrough, a one hundred foot electrical cord having a first end positioned within the hub, the cord being fabricated of fourteen gauge electrical wire, the cord having an intermediate section positioned through the cord hole in the central section and cord hole in the first sidewall of the outer housing, the cord having outer housing, the second end member of the hub including a plurality of screw holes adjacent to the central section, the first end member including two large apertures extending therethrough and within the central section, a plurality of screw holes being positioned around the apertures;

two outlet boxes each formed in a generally rectangular configuration and operatively coupled to the first end of the electrical cord, the outlet boxes being coupled within the recesses of the first end member of the hub by a plurality of screws, each outlet box including duplex female ground electrical sockets, a reset button and a test button, each box including ground fault interrupt means operatively coupled to the electrical sockets, reset button and test button, the ground fault interrupt means terminating the flow of electrical current through the apparatus when exposed to undesired situations such as ground fault current and power surges, the ground fault interrupt means being set at fifteen amps, the reset buttons being depressed by a user to reset the apparatus when the undesired situation has been eliminated, the test buttons being depressed to determine that the sockets to be utilized are operational, the outlet box further including a power indicator light positioned adjacent to each female socket and operatively coupled thereto, the light illuminating when electrical current flows through the adjacent socket; and

front and rear cover plates each formed in a planar circular configuration, the front plate including two rectangular apertures and a plurality of screw holes, the rear plate including a plurality of screw holes, the front cover plate being rotatably positioned within the front wall of the outer housing and coupled to the first end member with a plurality of screws, the female ground electrical sockets of each outlet box extending through a rectangular aperture of the front plate, the rear cover plate having an inner surface including a recessed peripheral groove, the rear cover plate being rotatably positioned within the rear wall of the outer housing and coupled to the second end member with a plurality of screws, the hub being rotatable within the outer housing by gyrating the rewind handle in a clockwise direction, this action causing the electrical cord to wind around the central section of the hub, a user pulling the second end of the cord to unroll the cord from the hub.